Akira Sendoh
Akira Sendoh (仙道 彰 Sendō Akira) is Ryonan's ace and is considered one of the top players in Kanagawa. Appearance Sendoh is depicted to have a short raven black hair with indigo highlights and it was styled into straight right spikes and black eyes. In the manga, his hair is depicted with spiky ends. In his initial appearance before changing to his jersey uniform, Sendoh wears a dark green standard Ryonan winter school uniform as his school jacket openly shows his white short sleeve undershirt beneath his school uniform. Changing to his school uniform and onwards, he wears a standard Ryonan jersey uniform and black converseque high-top sneakers and white socks. The color of his jersey is white and blue and its alternate is blue and white. In the opening theme of the anime, Sendoh's jersey is blue and yellow. In off-courts, Sendoh is depicted wearing his standard Ryonan jacket with a matching trousers or his white short sleeve loose shirt within his Ryonan black trousers. When he takes fishing before being dragged by Yayoi Aida for the practice match between Shohoku and Shoyo-Ryonan, he wears a casual outfit; a red short-sleeved collared shirt, khaki jeans and his black high-top sneakers from his jersey uniform. Personality Sendoh is known to be an easygoing, carefree and optimistic person. He usually doesn't take much of anything seriously but when it comes to basketball, he seems to enjoy accepting challenges, mostly on 1 on 1 game. An easygoing person; Sendoh usually has a smile on his face whether on-court or off. He can be lazy at times and has a reputation for arriving late to practice sessions and matches. His tardiness is tolerated though, because of his abilities on the basketball court. One of his hobbies is fishing, and he has a taste for lemons. His teammates trust him wholeheartedly, firmly believing that he can lead Ryonan to victory even if they are trailing. In spite of being easygoing, none of his teammates really knows much about him, as Ryoji Ikegami tells Yayoi Aida when the latter wants to do a write-up on Sendoh after the Kanagawa Tournament. Plot Sendoh attended junior high in Tokyo, where he presumably faced and lost to Eiji Sawakita. He was personally recruited and brought to Kanagawa by Coach Taoka. After Uozumi has retired, Sendoh became the new captain of Ryonan. Abilities Sendoh's all-around skills and basketball intelligence are repeatedly displayed throughout the series. He is capable of playing a 1 on 1 style of play like Rukawa. In manga, chapter 177, "Scoring Machine", Ryonan forward Ryoji Ikegami recalls Sendoh's 47-point performance as a rookie and calls him an unstoppable 'scoring machine'. Sendoh changed his play style in his 2nd year as he accumulated more experience and knowledge in the game of basketball. He understands the game very well and knows how to utilize his teammates effectively. He can play Point Guard position, but can also transform himself into a deadly scorer when the game is on the line thus filling up Ryonan's scarcity of strong guards. With this style of play, he can be considered as a Point Forward. Relationships Kaede Rukawa Sendoh and Rukawa are similar in skill level, but during a 1 on 1 matchup, Sendoh can easily get by Rukawa and score under his nose. During their second meeting, Sendoh continued to show that he can control the flow of a game. Prior to the IH tournament, Rukawa went to Ryonan High to challenge Sendoh to another game of 1 on 1 after Coach Anzai mentioned that he had to yet to match Sendoh's level. The two played til dusk and their game ended in a tie. Sendoh commented after that Rukawa plays the same way whether it is in an organized game or in a 1 on 1 and that he has yet to maximize his full potential as a player. Shinichi Maki Maki is known to be the strongest player in Japan for Kainan having 17 consecutive wins in Kanagawa Region. Uozumi believes that he cannot defeat Maki but Sendoh is able to surpass him. When Uozumi fouled out, Sendoh led the game in his absence. He then went head-on against Maki and matched him effectively despite the pressure he was under, ending the second half in a tie. Overtime is called, but the game ended in a loss without Uozumi. By the end of the match, Maki considered Sendoh as his equal and even expressed regret when he could not face Sendoh again in the IH tournament due to Ryonan's loss to Shohoku. Eiji Sawakita Although only briefly mentioned in the series, Sendoh could not win against Sawakita during middle school. He isn't able to remember his name clearly, as he inadvertently told Rukawa that his name was "Kitasawa." Anime and Manga Differences The anime had a filler episode in which members of Shoyo visited Shohoku's gym before they went to the Inter-High tournament. Since the team went for a practice game, Shoyo members Fujima and Hanagata and Ryonan's Uozumi and Ikegami joined their practice. Aida, Hikoichi's sister, looked for Sendoh, who was busy fishing, to join the game. He was the last player to join and went one on one again against Rukawa. Trivia * Sendoh forgot the player he can't win against during middle school. He thought his name is Kitasawa, who is actually Sawakita. * Sendoh is the first player that appeared to truly be a match for Maki, as he even stopped from blocking Sendoh when he was dunking at the end of the second half of their game. He realized Sendoh was going to win by having him commit a defensive foul, thus overturning the game at the last second. * While Maki is based on Magic Johnson, Sendoh may likely be based on NBA legend, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, as they are both talented point guards in spite of their height. They both share the same friendly attitude and a great ability as playmakers and leaders. * He is the only player that didn't earn a nickname by Sakuragi. Category:Characters Category:Basketball Players Category:Point Guards Category:Small Forwards Category:Kanagawa Players Category:High School 2nd Years